What is the ruling on perfumes that contain alcohol?
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The questioner : The topic of perfumes that contain alcohol. I heard that you have a fatwa regarding this...
The Shaykh : When did you hear about me?
The questioner : I think Abu Bakr and Abdul Hadi told us about it last year when I came to Hona.
The Shaykh : What brought you here? Ah, what is the summary of what you heard?
The questioner : I heard that the doctors told you that the alcohol found in perfumes is not the thing the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) meant by the prohibited substance.
The Shaykh : What is the thing the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) meant?
The questioner : Of course, intoxicants.
The Shaykh : The pharmacist, do you have any questions?
The Pharmacist: The word "alcohol" implies that it is intoxicating in any form. If Allah wills, whether it is a drop or the sea, it is intoxicating. Therefore, if it is present anywhere, it is not permissible. However, the rule is that if the large amount of something is intoxicating... we must look at the intoxicating substance before us and deal with it. If a large amount of it is intoxicating, it is prohibited and forbidden. So you do not deal with the substance of alcohol... the word "alcohol"...
The questioner : So is it intoxicating?
The questioner : My brother, if you or someone else bought some of it and got drunk from it, what would that be?
The questioner : ...
The questioner : But is it permissible for you to deal with it?
The Shaykh : Perhaps the brother, Uda, needs to know from a chemical perspective what the substance is that makesThe questioner : what is called khamr (intoxicants) intoxicating. What is the substance? The substance that makes khamr intoxicating, you know, khamr contains water, correct, and it contains sugar, for example. So what is the substance that makesThe questioner : this what intoxicates people? What is this substance? Do you understand?
The questioner : ....
The Shaykh : Ask the pharmacist, and he will tell you more than I can.
The Pharmacist: ... whereas in reality, there are many substances we deal with... that give us a type of intoxication, even if it is mild, such as sedatives. For example, in a certain dose, it becomes intoxicating. One hundred percent of it has no smell at all.
The Shaykh : No problem, so that you learn first, and then the rest of the brothers second. What is your answer to the previous question, considering this is your specialty? What is the substance that makes thisThe questioner : intoxicating?
The questioner:...
The Shaykh : So name it for me.
The Pharmacist: Ethyl alcohol in its form. If one takes it like this, it will be poisoned. In reality, the concentration of alcohol is the poison, it is the intoxicant. It is not ethyl alcohol... it contains alcohol because we deal with many substances that contain alcohol, even yeast undergoes alcoholic fermentation. But the principle, in terms of my dealing with it, is that the discussion I had with the doctors is that we always say that ethyl alcohol, in any proportion, any concentration, in any form, is the intoxicant, and we forget something called concentration, and we forget that there are other substances that can cause intoxication, but they are not ethyl alcohol.
The Shaykh : We must distinguish between the intoxicating substance and the narcotic substance.
The Pharmacist: Yes, the two are not the same.
The Shaykh : There is a difference.
The Pharmacist: Yes.
The Shaykh : Because in the narcotic substance, if the large amount is narcotic, the small amount is not haram (forbidden).
The questioner : Even the narcotic, its effect... narcotics affect the sleep center. To a certain extent, it affects the same area that is affected... for example, ethyl alcohol, when it rushes to the nerve endings sometimes... but the narcotic does not, because its effect is central.
The Shaykh : Is there anyone among the attendees who has knowledge about nutmeg? Please go ahead.
The questioner : It contains amounts of fats, it contains essential oils.
The Shaykh : Does it contain a narcotic substance?
The questioner : It contains essential oils, in capsules...
The Shaykh : Where is Abu Muhammad? You need to watch the time so that we catch the Maghrib prayer in our mosque.
The questioner : There is a quarter of an hour left.
The Shaykh : And you know that many women and non-women take some of it to flavor food. So it is not said to be haram (forbidden), by analogy with the rule that if the large amount of something is intoxicating, the small amount is haram, because this is not an intoxicant. This is the answer of the brother here.
The questioner : Must vinegar contain some alcohol?
The Shaykh : Just as you said, oranges and clementines contain alcohol.
The questioner : As for the vinegar that I know, it must retain a little alcohol?
The Shaykh : It is possible, but it has gone out of the scope of intoxication.
The questioner : But alcohol, from an industrial perspective, is not just an alcohol substance... if one drinks it alone, it causes blindness. Ethyl alcohol is less than it, and the higher the rank of the alcohol, the less intoxicating it becomes and the sweeter its taste. Sugars are considered alcohols from a chemical perspective, as evidenced by the fact that when we ferment sugar, alcohol comes out. That is, sugar is a compound molecule of alcohol; when it ferments, ethyl alcohol appears.
The Shaykh : When did you hear about me?
The questioner : I think Abu Bakr and Abdul Hadi told us about it last year when I came to Hona.
The Shaykh : What brought you here? Ah, what is the summary of what you heard?
The questioner : I heard that the doctors told you that the alcohol found in perfumes is not the thing the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) meant by the prohibited substance.
The Shaykh : What is the thing the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) meant?
The questioner : Of course, intoxicants.
The Shaykh : The pharmacist, do you have any questions?
The Pharmacist: The word "alcohol" implies that it is intoxicating in any form. If Allah wills, whether it is a drop or the sea, it is intoxicating. Therefore, if it is present anywhere, it is not permissible. However, the rule is that if the large amount of something is intoxicating... we must look at the intoxicating substance before us and deal with it. If a large amount of it is intoxicating, it is prohibited and forbidden. So you do not deal with the substance of alcohol... the word "alcohol"...
The questioner : So is it intoxicating?
The questioner : My brother, if you or someone else bought some of it and got drunk from it, what would that be?
The questioner : ...
The questioner : But is it permissible for you to deal with it?
The Shaykh : Perhaps the brother, Uda, needs to know from a chemical perspective what the substance is that makesThe questioner : what is called khamr (intoxicants) intoxicating. What is the substance? The substance that makes khamr intoxicating, you know, khamr contains water, correct, and it contains sugar, for example. So what is the substance that makesThe questioner : this what intoxicates people? What is this substance? Do you understand?
The questioner : ....
The Shaykh : Ask the pharmacist, and he will tell you more than I can.
The Pharmacist: ... whereas in reality, there are many substances we deal with... that give us a type of intoxication, even if it is mild, such as sedatives. For example, in a certain dose, it becomes intoxicating. One hundred percent of it has no smell at all.
The Shaykh : No problem, so that you learn first, and then the rest of the brothers second. What is your answer to the previous question, considering this is your specialty? What is the substance that makes thisThe questioner : intoxicating?
The questioner:...
The Shaykh : So name it for me.
The Pharmacist: Ethyl alcohol in its form. If one takes it like this, it will be poisoned. In reality, the concentration of alcohol is the poison, it is the intoxicant. It is not ethyl alcohol... it contains alcohol because we deal with many substances that contain alcohol, even yeast undergoes alcoholic fermentation. But the principle, in terms of my dealing with it, is that the discussion I had with the doctors is that we always say that ethyl alcohol, in any proportion, any concentration, in any form, is the intoxicant, and we forget something called concentration, and we forget that there are other substances that can cause intoxication, but they are not ethyl alcohol.
The Shaykh : We must distinguish between the intoxicating substance and the narcotic substance.
The Pharmacist: Yes, the two are not the same.
The Shaykh : There is a difference.
The Pharmacist: Yes.
The Shaykh : Because in the narcotic substance, if the large amount is narcotic, the small amount is not haram (forbidden).
The questioner : Even the narcotic, its effect... narcotics affect the sleep center. To a certain extent, it affects the same area that is affected... for example, ethyl alcohol, when it rushes to the nerve endings sometimes... but the narcotic does not, because its effect is central.
The Shaykh : Is there anyone among the attendees who has knowledge about nutmeg? Please go ahead.
The questioner : It contains amounts of fats, it contains essential oils.
The Shaykh : Does it contain a narcotic substance?
The questioner : It contains essential oils, in capsules...
The Shaykh : Where is Abu Muhammad? You need to watch the time so that we catch the Maghrib prayer in our mosque.
The questioner : There is a quarter of an hour left.
The Shaykh : And you know that many women and non-women take some of it to flavor food. So it is not said to be haram (forbidden), by analogy with the rule that if the large amount of something is intoxicating, the small amount is haram, because this is not an intoxicant. This is the answer of the brother here.
The questioner : Must vinegar contain some alcohol?
The Shaykh : Just as you said, oranges and clementines contain alcohol.
The questioner : As for the vinegar that I know, it must retain a little alcohol?
The Shaykh : It is possible, but it has gone out of the scope of intoxication.
The questioner : But alcohol, from an industrial perspective, is not just an alcohol substance... if one drinks it alone, it causes blindness. Ethyl alcohol is less than it, and the higher the rank of the alcohol, the less intoxicating it becomes and the sweeter its taste. Sugars are considered alcohols from a chemical perspective, as evidenced by the fact that when we ferment sugar, alcohol comes out. That is, sugar is a compound molecule of alcohol; when it ferments, ethyl alcohol appears.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.